to loathe halloween and wish it had never been invented

[depob]

Seems to be just an excuse to stuff themselves with ridiculous amounts of sweets, spend out on tack and annoy the neighbours.
Feeling particularly grumpy that my DC's pumpkins have been stolen - yes stolen! within 10 minutes of putting them out. After all their work.

Can't believe the pumpkins got nicked?

I am not a fan either.

I much prefer christmas.

Might be cos it does seem to commercialised and what happened to bobbing for apples, money in apple pies and toffee apples. I never had trick or treating in my day.

Nope - give me christmas ( or Easter) any day.

Ah we did our first trick or treating tonight with 4yr old dd and her 6yr old cousin. It was fab! Loads of houses beautifully and inventively decorated (my favourite being the house with a wheelie bin lid that open and closed when the doorbell rang [hgrin] and the lady who had made gorgeous sweetie kebabs)

We stuck to the decorated houses and the girls got a warm welcome at each one. There were loads of children out and the street had a very rare community feel to it. We loved it [hsmile]. Very sad you had your pumpkins stolen though op

The children in our road have had a fantastic time dressing up, playing party games, making pizza faces and then out trick or treating while the Mums got together. It is things like this that build a real community. They only went to houses displaying pumpkins so no one was disturbed if they didn't want to be.

...and yet your DCs had pumpkins. Not so against it then really, are you?

We've just had a load of teenagers knock on.. all dressed as farm animals.

tbh, they deserved all the haribo

I like it. I also find it ironic that people think Halloween is too commercialised and yet love CHRISTMAS!

"All Hallows Eve is the Christian version. I'm sure there are many pagan festivals for the dead, but both name and timing of Hallowe'en comes from the Christian calendar. "

All Hallows Eve just happens to fall on Samhain the Pagan festival. So the name may be Christian but the timing and traditions were appropriated from Paganism.

Scarevola, I hate to break it to you, but paganism pre-dates Christianity and the early Church adapted pagan festivals. Christmas, Easter, Harvest Festival, All Hallow's Eve - these were the times of pagan festivals that the early Church fathers decided to replace. Jesus wasn't really born on the 25th of December, you know...

It's quite a long time since I have been to a Samhain celebration, but it was definitely turning of the seasons and harvest. They've become Harvest Festival (late Sept) and in the US Thanksgiving (November).

Hallowe'en may be on the same date, but it's a different festival.

yy to celticlassie

Edam: hate to break it to you, but the appropriation of dates is quite well known.

But that makes no difference to this being a Christian festival, part of the wider festivities of All Saints' Day; it's Eve being the time when Satan and his creatures can most walk this world.

The Christian version of Samhain is celebrated earlier, at Harvest Festival.

It is a bit of a pointless argument really; Paganism and Christianity coexisted for a long time and so Halloween has a blend of Pagan and Christian influences. It clearly has been heavily influenced by Samhain traditions to do with the underworld for at least a thousand years, but has also been influenced by Christianity.

There are cross overs.. Easter/Ostara, Yule/Christmas

Of all the myth systems, Christianity is the most constructed and plagiaristic - most of its major traditions were nicked from existing mythology. Christianity lasted because monotheistic myth systems lend themselves better to aggressive states - they are better built for conquest than pantheistic ones.

YANBU. Not keen on "celebrating" spookiness!

Just wish the fireworks would let up now

Scrarevola - so why did you claim the timing was from the Christian calendar, if you realise that the early Church appropriated pagan festivals, then?

I don't really like the whole commercialisation of everything but I do quite like halloween.

Tonight, we all got dressed up, but the pumpkins out with the sign and the skeleton so when the kids came round trick or treating they got to see not only our children dressed up, but me as a vampire and DH with a knife through his head.

Responses suggested they enjoyed seeing us dressed up too.

Poundland is great for getting loads of cheap sweets for halloween.

And I get to stay up, in the dark on my own watching horror films whilst everyone else goes to bed. Mwah hahahahahha!

I can't believe people would steal pumpkins though.

That's just shocking!

I was quite enjoying it until we came back to our house to find a teenager + 5 assorted kids throwing our three under six year olds' lit pumpkins in our front garden because we weren't in to give them a treat!

Bah Humbug and screaming children who witnessed it means that we will it be doing anything next Halloween. [hsad]

The kids enjoy it, 'nuff said.

Dont ot do it next year urban that would teach your DC to be afraid...just dont eave pumpkins outside....you must get back on the horse!